As I said last week, I am deeply convicted that although we are certainly not persecuted to the degree of the early Church or even many parts of the world today, the American Church would be greatly transformed and invigorated if it were eventually to see this type of affliction. I believe it could be a great blessing to this country, and very well could be God’s grace towards His Church in many ways. Before you think I’m crazy, let’s take a look at how scripture shows how persecution, and times of affliction could very well be the greatest thing for the Church, and how it could be the very means of the Lord bringing about great revival amongst His people.

Last week, we began discussing the problem of taking our civil liberties for granted and how we have become privileged– expecting to have things that scripture never promises us, the idolatry and dormant faith that occurs when we try to live the Christian life dependent on our government, and constitutional freedoms. And though what we see today in America is not at all what the rest of the globe sees and cannot be compared to the sufferings of the early Church of Acts, the question we must ask ourselves is: what if it DID get to that point? What would that mean for the Church, and how would I pursue Christ through that?